Starring: Henrietta Crosman, Heather Angel, Norman Foster, Marian Nixon, Maurice Murphy, Lucille La Verne, Charley Grapewin, Hedda Hopper, Robert Warwick, Louise Carter, Betty Blythe, Francis Ford, Jay Ward, Frances Rich
Writers: Philip Klein, Barry Conners (based on a story by I.A.R. Wylie)
Cinematography: George Schneiderman
Editor: Louis R. Loeffler
Music: R.H. Bassett, director Samuel Kaylin
B&W, 1h 36m. 1.37:1 presentation.
Released on: July 12, 1933 by Fox Film Corporation.
My experience: Ford at Fox DVD box set
Pilgrimage is one of those films that comes to mind when you think of an unsung classic film. Though it was directed by John Ford, it seems to be practically unknown, even to classic movie buffs such as myself. I had heard of the film by name but other than that I was unaware as to its contents, or even whether it was any good. After seeing the film, the latter worry can be put to rest. This is a beautifully artistic yet restrained film by a master filmmaker entering his prime, and the only reason I can see it not being more well known is that it deviates somewhat from Ford's filmography in that its protagonist is a woman. It wasn't the only one of that ilk that he directed, either; but far be it for me to cast speculation on the vagaries of cinema history, and the perhaps sexist views of the Cahiers de Cinema clique. That would require a whole other essay to unpack.
The film opens in 1915 in fictitious Three Cedars, Arkansas, where Mrs. Hannah Jessop (Henrietta Crosman) is a widowed farmsteader. Her son Jimmy (Norman Foster) feels stifled by his unappreciative mother, and wishes to break out on his own. She guilt trips him into staying, but forbids him from seeing local lass Mary Saunders (Marian Nixon), whom she looks down upon because Mary's father (Charley Grapewin) is an alcoholic.
A couple of years later, love and nature have taken their course, and Mary is pregnant with Jimmy's child. At this point, Hannah vindictively signs Jimmy up for the Army. The lad had previously expressed his desire to help his country, but she had used her local power and his position as her only child to block him from being drafted. Now, however, she essentially signs his death warrant ... and slightly before the armistice is signed, Jimmy becomes fodder for the soon-to-be-silent cannons.
Ten years later, an embittered Hannah, who has turned even more inward and hateful, denies herself any association with Mary or her grandson Jimmy Jr (Jay Ward). One day she is approached by Mayor Briggs (Francis Ford) and her neighbour Mrs. Simms (Adele Watson, in her final film role) as a potential candidate to go overseas and represent America as a Gold Star Mother (American women who lost sons in the Great War) at a dedication of a monument to slain American soldiers in France. She is virulently against it at first, but allows herself to be persuaded, if only to escape the sight of Mary and Jimmy Jr.
She is brought on board by Major Albertson (Robert Warwick) and introduced to her fellow passengers by the Gold Star organizer Janet Prescot (Betty Blythe). She rooms with Mrs. Rogers (Louis Carter), but finds a certain kinship with one Mrs. Kelly Hatfield (Lucille La Verne). She finds herself loosening up and enjoying herself, but after a breakdown on board by Mrs. Rogers, she realizes she doesn't belong amongst the group, concluding that while they loved their children wholly and unconditionally, she was never able to show her feelings in a similar fashion.
While walking the streets of Paris one evening, she comes across a young man (American, natch) who appears to be pondering suicide upon a bridge. Upon discovering that the young man, a Park Avenue heir named Gary Worth (Maurice Murphy), is despondent over the fact that his mother (Hedda Hopper) won't let him marry his sweetheart Suzanne (Heather Angel), she takes it upon herself to be his guardian angel (I got vibes of It's a Wonderful Life while watching this), and takes him home to sleep it off. Upon meeting the girl and realizing she is pregnant with Gary's son, Hannah realizes they are in the same situation as Jimmy was, and makes it her mission to convert Mrs. Worth to acceptance of her son's relationship, wanting to make up for her mistakes and also to prevent Mrs. Worth from making one of her own. She then heads to her late son's grave and prays for his forgiveness, eventually making her way back to Three Cedars and opening her heart to Mary and her grandson.
The film is titled Pilgrimage, ostensibly for the journey Mrs. Jessop makes to France, but it can also be argued that the title refers to the personal and spiritual journey Hannah goes on. It is a genuinely moving and believeable journey, told as only the golden oldies could in those days of unironic sentiment. Henrietta Crosman is phenomenal in the role of Hannah Jessop, and for the life of me I can't see why she didn't have a bigger career in film. She nails the hardness that a widowed farmer would have felt she needed to survive, and presents her slow thaw (and before that, her conflicted feelings) beautifully. Even when her journey has come full circle, Crosman is careful to make sure her character is like a bull in a china shop with her love, bursting through Mary's door and announcing her presence and her recalcitrance as if their forgiveness was a given.
There are some subtle moments of humour, as when Crosman and Foster are sawing a giant log in the farmyard, and later when she breaks a baguette violently over her knee in France. These visual representations of male castration are quite obvious, but I got a kick out of them. The film is very nicely directed by John Ford, who focuses on character moments and faces above his usual painterly vistas. Even so, he uses the frame in such a way that Jimmy often appears framed by walls and doors, as if he's trapped, suffocated in his mother's presence. Even at his death, Jimmy isn't just shot; rather, a trench collapses upon his platoon, and his final moments are most likely the physical embodiment of how he's felt his whole life.
It probably sounds from what I've written that Pilgrimage is a dark, morose tale. While it isn't always a barrel of laughs, it is a sharp, insightful look into the human character, and how different people react to tragedy and trauma (Harriet forcefully tries to control everything around her; Mary finds enjoyment in what small pleasures she can). Not the first film that pops into your head when thinking about John Ford, but maybe it should be. It's right up there, sneakily among his finest.
Nine possessive parents out of ten.
